Saturday, June 28, 2014

A Special Pillow - A Very Special Pillow 7" (1995, Really Fast Racecar)

A little pedigree action going on here. File under Yo La Tengo and Hypnolovewheel, cos' A Special Pillow entailed James McNew and Dan Cuddy of the aforementioned respectfully. Cuddy is actually the mastermind here, and the only consistent participant on the trio of full lengths that followed this 45. Just as significant are the contributions of violin shredder Katie Gentile and cellist Cindy Brolsma, who provide a poignant chamber pop element.. "Tomorrow Night" (not the Shoes classic in case you were wondering) is sheer naval-gazing bliss if there ever was such a thing. Slow, strummy, and even a tad glummy, it's the perfect slacker lullaby for hammock season. The flip, "Paranormal," is considerably more enthusiastic, with Gentile's chin-music savvy escalating the tune's fervor to something along the lines of Pillow's string-wielding contemps the Dambuilders.

3 comments:

Here's a little known Dan Cuddy fact for ya Sapvid. Up until 1978 he lived in nearby Orchard Park until moving to Huntington LI. We were buddies and in Orchestra together. 5 years later I was at Fredonia and became good friends with Dave from HLW who mentions his high school bandmate Dan Cuddy. Small world!